KNIFF MCCULLA: Legislature should help citizenship process of immigrants who want to work

Editor’s note: The following is the final piece in a series of three articles going over Jasper County lawmakers’ priorities for the 2024 legislative session.

For this year’s legislative session, Iowa House Rep. Barb Kniff McCulla’s priorities of workforce and economic development almost fully align with her role on the five committees she serves: commerce, economic growth and technology, health and human services, labor and workforce and ways and means.

Kniff McCulla was only just appointed to the labor and workforce committee this legislative session. As a small business owner, she knows workforce is a constant challenge, and she told Newton News that perhaps it was that experience that earned her a spot on that committee.

“I don’t know they must have flagged that and said, ‘OK, if you’re so interested in that we’re putting you on that!’ So we need to bring more workforce to this particular state,” Kniff McCulla said. “We’re just so short, and every industry I’ve spoken with agrees. That’s really going to be my drive here this next year.”

Specifically, Kniff McCulla wants to allow the legalization of immigrants who really want to work. From what she has gathered speaking with immigrants, they tell her if they can get into a legalized system somehow — which she acknowledged could be more a federal problem than a state problem — they will work.

“They say, ‘We want to work. We want to be part of the United States. We want to be part of the dream.’ And there are some of those individuals out there,” she said. “It’s not all, you know, coming across the border that are horrible, that are causing issues. We gotta close the borders but that’s a federal piece.”

Kniff McCulla clarified it is going to take some heavy vetting to ensure they have individuals “that truly want to be United States citizens.”

“There are people out there that are willing and able to work and want to work and would love to come to the United States,” she said. “But right now we’ve got such a mess going. And what’s taken centerstage at this particular point in time is the mess that we got coming in to the United States down at the border.”

So the challenge lawmakers face is how to best fast-track the process. Kniff McCulla knows she needs employees and several other companies do too, including trucking companies, warehousing companies and underground infrastructure companies.

“We need those people,” she said.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STILL NEEDED IN IOWA

Kniff McCulla wants to ensure the state government continues to make Iowa strong through its economy. It’s a big piece of who we are, she said, and who we can become. Kniff McCulla believes there are opportunities to draw from the surrounding states and lead by example.

“Getting some of those small businesses that are fed up, like with what’s going on in Minnesota, and bring those individuals and small businesses and say, ‘Hey, check us out! Look what we’re doing for small business. Look what we’re doing for personal income taxes. Look what we’re trying to do for property taxes,’” she said.

Economic development is always needed in Iowa. Kniff McCulla said the state needs its small businesses, large businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive. If the economy is not growing and remains stagnant, then it’s going backwards, she said. As a result, people will not come to Iowa.

“It will deteriorate,” she said. “We need to make sure we have small businesses in place, and Main Street, for instance. Pella, Iowa is vibrant. And that’s what we need to instill in some of these communities that have opportunities. How do we continually make small businesses thrive? What do we need to do for them?”

Iowa also needs large corporations.They, like small businesses, give back to the community and make community, Kniff McCulla said.

“We need to have that piece,” she said. “It’s not only about where we live but where we work and where we play. That whole piece that comes together is what makes Iowa special and small town Iowa a great place to live.”

TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT & OPEN CONVERSATIONS

Kniff McCulla wants a smaller government, and through that she believes it will lead to a more open and transparent government. She likes the progress already made in the state, but she would still like less government intervention. She also advocated for cleaning up old laws “that don’t even pertain to today’s economy.”

Iowa is on the path toward better transparency, she added. Kniff McCulla also advocated for a shift in perspective, something that would not take legislative action. She said there are so many opportunities to do good in the state, but it takes input from individuals with differing ideas.

“We all have to have the right mindset and listen to each other and have the opportunity to each view and say what it is we’d like to do, and not necessarily, totally, 100 percent discount the other guy,” she said. “I think when we have conversations with one another that brings out ideas (you don’t think about at first).”

Kniff McCulla said although she might not agree with everything that is being said, she is willing to listen and consider there might be a side she missed.

“I want to be a good listener coming up this next session and make sure we’re putting laws in the books that make sense and are good for not only my region but also as a state,” she said. “I’ve been to so many conferences and talked to legislators across the different states. It’s amazing how much we all think alike.”